ILOILO CITY , Philippines – Mistaking a homemade firearm for a toy gun, a 10-year-old boy accidentally shot dead his four-year-old sister in their house in Cabatuan, Iloilo last Monday morning.
The boy was looking for a pen when he spotted a bag hanging on a wall. He checked to see if there was a pen inside, but instead saw a single-shot homemade firearm, P03 Lope Ricaforte of the Cabatuan police told The STAR.
Curious with what he saw, the boy took the firearm out of the bag and played with it, thinking it was just a toy gun. To aggravate matters, the gun was loaded.
The boy must have aimed it at his sister when it went off, hitting the latter, Ricaforte said.
The boy’s sister was rushed to the Ramon Tabiana Memorial Hospital in Cabatuan town, but doctors pronounced her dead on arrival.
At the time of the incident, their parents were not in the house as both were working.
Although no charges would be filed, the Cabatuan police said the gun would remain in their possession because it was unlicensed.